Ants are one of the first insects to find an exposed cadaver and can be present during all stages of decomposition. Although these organisms are not commonly used in postmortem interval estimates, they are to be taken into account on criminal investigations involving human corpses, since they can leave bite marks that can be mistaken for antemortem or perimortem injuries, which could be misleading when ascertaining the occurrence of abuse or physical altercation during a crime. A few studies report the action of ants on human cadavers and even though leaf-cutting ants of the genus Atta are frequently encountered in succession studies that use animal carcasses, there are no records of these fungus-growing species on human corpses. Atta is a genus restricted to the New World, ranging from northern Argentina to southern United States and acts as one of the most conspicuous neotropical herbivores. In this study, we report three cases of violent death that illustrate the impact of ants, especially those of the genus Atta, in a forensic setting. We compare the patterns displayed by postmortem bite injuries caused by leaf-cutter ants and other common species with less robust mandibles. We also present the capability of Atta ants to create artifacts by cutting victim's clothes in a crime scene, contributing to the knowledge of ant-mediated confounding factors in crime scene investigation.

A Psicologia Forense é uma subárea da Psicologia que se dedica a estudar diversos aspectos de um crime utilizando-se de conhecimentos provenientes da psicologia básica. O quanto o conhecimento nesta área pode auxiliar um perito de local de crime, quando na execução de suas funções, é um importante questionamento feito por diversos especialistas da área forense. A psicopatia é uma das denominações mais importantes em psicologia forense, sendo este distúrbio comumente relacionado com crimes violentos. Muitas características de indivíduos psicopatas podem se refletir na cena do crime através dos denominados Vestígios Psicológicos ou Comportamentais, a exemplo de crimes em série no qual o “serial killer” tende a seguir rituais que se repetem de um crime para outro. Este artigo busca analisar alguns conceitos básicos de psicologia e da psiquiatria forense e associar a importância destes com o trabalho do perito criminal de cena de crime, quando na análise de vestígios comportamentais, e servir como uma fonte de estudo e reflexão para peritos e outros usuários da ciência forense.

Little is known regarding the scavenger fauna associated with buried human corpses, particularly in clandestine burials. We report the presence of 20 shells of the terrestrial snail Allopeas micra, within hollow bones of human remains buried for 5 years, during the process of collecting DNA material. The fact that a large number of shells of A. micra had been found in the corpse and in the crime scene supports the assumption that there was no attempt to remove the corpse from the area where the crime occurred. Despite this, our observations cannot be used to estimate the postmortem interval because there is no precise knowledge about the development of this species. This is the first record of a terrestrial snail associated with a human corpse and its role in this forensic medicine case.